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LCBO ANNOUNCES FIVE STUDENT FINALISTS IN THINK OF ME BAG CAMPAIGN

Overall Winning bag to be distributed across the province in Spring 2018

Toronto, ON, December 7, 2017 – Over the past several weeks, elementary school students across the province have put their creativity to work in support of LCBO’s annual Think of Me Bag campaign, which raises awareness of the dangers of impaired driving. Today, the organization proudly announces the five finalist bag designs:

Ella Maric, Grade 7, St. Joan of Arc, Oakville
“I believe that it is important to understand how Drinking and Driving is not the right path to take, it affects yourself and others around you.”

Jazmyn Maki. Grade 8, St. Joseph French Immersion, Wawa
People don't realize that boating is still considered "behind the wheel" too. I wanted to advertise and have more awareness that thousands of people get killed because of drinking and driving. It's a problem that we have in Ontario and we need to put a stop to it."

Grace Button, Grade 6, Our Lady of Fatima, Cambridge “My drawing displays the importance of showing how different alcoholic drinks all have different amounts of alcohol. Even though there could be lower amounts of alcohol in any type of drink, we need to stop people from drinking and driving.”

Gianna Price, Grade 5, St. Augustine, Cambridge “The fact that people are getting in accidents while drunk driving inspired me to create this bag to show people that they need to be safe when driving, otherwise they can end up in jail, the hospital or even dead. It is very important that they know this!”

Emma Hinchcliffe, Grade 6, Our Lady of Fatima, Cambridge“Drinking and driving is a serious problem and we need to fix it and not threaten someone's life!”

Now in its 16th year, the LCBO’s Think of Me Bag campaignis a grassroots partnership between LCBO stores, local police services and elementary schools. The program aims to raise community awareness of the dangerous consequences of impaired driving by offering Ontario elementary schools the opportunity for their students to decorate single-bottle bags with powerful “Don’t drink and drive” messages. The province-wide contest is new this year.

“We are proud of all of our initiatives that support alcohol awareness and education, but the Think of Me Bag program is especially meaningful because of the enthusiastic support of schools, local police, parents and students, all of whom have been instrumental in building this campaign from the ground up,” said Joyce Gray, Chief Customer Officer, LCBO. “Not only does the campaign help deliver important messages to LCBO customers, but it helps raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving for students. Thank you to everyone who took part this year and congratulations to the five finalists for their compelling and original designs.”

"The tragic consequences of impaired driving touch communities across the entire province, which is why a campaign like this resonates so deeply with all Ontarians,” said Waterloo Regional Police Chief Bryan Larkin, President of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police. “The collaboration demonstrated by each community – from the police and the LCBO, to the school and of course the students – is truly inspiring. We are grateful to all the students for their involvement in the program. Your work is sending a clear and important message to adults that we must keep Ontario’s roads safe all year long.”

This year, over 50,000 blank bags were handed out to elementary schools in Ontario. Every bag designed by a student is returned to their local LCBO store and customers will see their holiday purchases wrapped in these powerful messages in hopes they think twice about getting behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated.

Of these five finalists, one overall winning design, to be announced next week, will be printed on 60,000 bags, and distributed at LCBO stores across the province in advance of the 2018 May long weekend – one of the busiest weekends of the year for LCBO stores and, as the unofficial kick-off to summer in Ontario, an important time to remind customers to drink responsibly. Posters featuring designs by the runners-up will be displayed on store info boards for the summer months.